Has anyone had any experience with truely custom canoe paddles. I'm not referring to artwork or that sort of thing. I'm talking about having a paddle made that fits me and the way I paddle. I want a paddle with a grip that fits my hand, a shaft of the right length and diameter for my hands, a large light blade that slices smoothly and one that is pretty to look at.
Years ago I saw a paddle made by a fellow named Quimby. The paddle's owner was proud of it and rightly so. It was a work of art. I've searched high and low and could not find the fellow. The owner of a locally paddling shop told me he didn't think Quimby was in the business anymore but he didn't know for sure. The shop owner mentioned Dogpaddles. I've checked out the website and am interested. It looks like he does just what I'm looking for. Does anyone on here own one of his paddles and if so, what do you think of it?
Any comment/help would be appreciated.
Nightowl
I bought a Freestyle Dogpaddle from Marc Ornstein a few months ago and love it. The paddle is beautiful, very light and it is perfectly balanced. The blade slices through the water on recovery like a butter knife.
I spent alot of time on the phone with Marc before ordering the paddle. He had me send him dimensions from the grip and shaft of my favorite (until now) paddle so that he could customize those elements to my liking. The new paddle fits my hand like a glove (or rather my hand fits the paddle like a glove). I couldn't be happier with it. It was worth every penny.
I've spent thousands of dollars on carbon and kevlar boats. Sometimes I've spent additional hundreds to have them outfitted or customized in various ways. When it came to paddles, I'd purchase decent, stock paddles that looked nice or felt OK in my hands, but I never gave paddles serious thought. That has now changed. The few hundred dollars I spent on this paddle make a huge difference after a day on the water. I'm now considering one of Marc's river paddles for those times when I don't want to risk banging up my beautiful baby.
Daytripper